U.S. Justice Department files lawsuits over in-state tuition laws in Massachusetts and Rhode Island

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Highlights

The U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits seeking to block Massachusetts and Rhode Island from enforcing laws granting in-state tuition and financial aid to illegal aliens.
The filings argue these state laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens and incentivize illegal immigration by offering benefits unavailable to citizens.
With these cases, the department has launched 12 lawsuits nationwide, securing four favorable court orders and targeting states including Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, and Kansas.

Federal challenge targets tuition and aid rules

The new complaints, as announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, ask the courts to stop Massachusetts and Rhode Island from enforcing laws that let colleges and universities offer in-state tuition rates to aliens who maintain state residency regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States.

The department also seeks to bar both states from enforcing provisions that extend financial assistance and scholarships to illegal aliens. It argues the laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who do not receive the same reduced tuition rates or aid, while also creating incentives for illegal immigration.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward says the department is carrying out President Trump’s pledge that illegal aliens will not receive taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment over U.S. citizens. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division says federal law does not allow colleges to provide benefits to illegal aliens that are unavailable to U.S. citizens.

Broader litigation campaign expands across states

With the Massachusetts and Rhode Island filings, the department says it has brought three lawsuits in the past week over in-state tuition policies for illegal aliens, raising the total in this series of actions to 12.

The department says four similar cases in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Nebraska have already produced favorable court orders that permanently enjoin and declare unconstitutional comparable laws granting reduced tuition to illegal aliens. Additional lawsuits remain pending in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey and Kansas, extending the dispute across multiple state higher education systems.

Treasury and the IRS recently issued new guidance on contributions to Trump accounts created under the Working Families Tax Cuts. Our earlier coverage explained that Revenue Procedure 2026-25 sets a gift-tax reporting safe harbor for eligible annual contributions, aiming to reduce compliance burdens and uncertainty for friends and family who fund these accounts.

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